The Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, asked, this Saturday morning (22), the population of the northern states of the country to complete the vaccination schedule against Covid-19 with the second dose and the booster dose.
“I need to ask each of you to take anyone you know for the second dose and the booster dose. Only then will we be effective in preventing serious deaths from this disease. We include special groups such as children. We need everyone’s support and your collaboration.”
read more:
Queiroga participated in an event to vaccinate people against Covid-19, in Manaus, Amazonas, and in seven other capitals in the northern region. In his speech, the minister highlighted the importance of vaccination against Covid and cited his own case as an example.
“I took two doses, and you know I had Covid, I already took the booster dose and I am confident that even if I get it again, the vaccine is essential to prevent more serious forms of the disease. They are effective enough to protect us and make the number of cases and deaths live together within a pandemic perspective”, he said.
Queiroga also said that the Ministry of Health wants to encourage the population to seek immunization. “We don’t want to force people to take vaccines, we want to convince people to seek vaccines, this is the best way for us to be able to defeat our only enemy; the virus. We don’t need so much tension, to discuss small and side issues, we need to come together around a common goal, which is to end the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The minister also said that the country has been experiencing, since March 2020, “the biggest health emergency in the world”. “We overcame that moment of great difficulty caused by the gamma variant. Today, we are stronger and this is due to the SUS, which in 2020 and 2021 was strengthened”, he said. “Few countries had the capacity to have this performance due to a diversified strategy for the acquisition of vaccines that involved a technological order for Brazil to be self-sufficient to produce vaccines with a national API, Astrazeneca/Firocruz.”
The governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, also present at the event, recalled the shortage crisis that the state experienced in January last year. “I hope that in the next ten days we can have a decision curve for Covid cases in Amazonas and Brazil.”
Vaccination of the Northern States
Testing and vaccination for Covid in Amazonas took place at the Sambadrome in Manaus. The state of Amazonas has 80% of the population over 12 years old with the first dose, 62% with the second dose and only 8% took the booster dose.
In Rondônia, according to the Ministry of Health, vaccination coverage is 66% and 12% for the booster dose. In Belém, Pará, 57% of the vaccinated population took both doses, but 577,000 people from Pará have not yet completed the vaccination schedule.
In Boa Vista, Roraima, vaccination takes place at the Luiz Canuto Chaves Terminal, in the center of the capital. Since 7 am, people were waiting in lines to get immunized. In Tocantins, 64% of the population took the second dose of the Covid vaccine. In Acre, 79% of the population already has the first dose and 64% with the second dose.
